Movers and Shakers 2-4-99

CBS.MarketWatch.com

SCREAMER: M.H. Meyerson (MHMY)
mhmy
shares surged 4 15/16 to close at 12 3/8 as many small online brokerage firms advanced for the third day. On Tuesday, shares got a boost when the company reported plans to provide low-cost electronic and Internet brokerage trading services before the latter part of this year. See Screamers.

U.S. advancers

Analog Devices (ADI)
ADI, -0.69%
fell 1 1/2 to close at 32 3/8 Thursday amid broad pressure on semiconductor stocks one day after the chip-maker said it will cooperate with Intel (INTC)
INTC, -0.66%
on a new line of digital signal processors. Intel shares dropped 8 9/16 to 130 1/8. See Tech Report.

Books-A-Million (BAMM)
bamm
shares surged 3 5/16 to 13 7/8. Sherry Cardwell of the online and traditional book retailer's investor-relations department said the company had no explanation for the stock spike. Fourth-quarter results, she said, will be released in March. An Amazon.com "shopping list" compiled by SmartMoney.com did not mention Books-A-Million.

Corsair Communications (CAIR)
cair
shares jumped 31/32 to 6 7/32 after posting a 4-cent loss for its fourth quarter. According to First Call, analysts expected a loss of about 12 cents a share

Didax (AMEN)
AMEN, +0.78%
shares rose 1 1/8 to 11 11/16 after the Christian community Web site, creator of Crosswalk.com, agreed to make National Discount Brokers (NDB)
NDB, +0.07%
the first online-trading partner on its Web site.

CompUSA (CPU)
CPU, +0.48%
shares rose 3/4 to 13 7/8 after the company posted a profit of 17 cents a share, a penny ahead of the consensus estimate. Sales rose to $1.77 billion from the year-ago total of $1.45 billion. Year-over-year net income fell from 36 cents a share.

Share of IXC Communications (IIXC)
iixc
surged 13 1/4 to 46 1/4 on news that the telecommunications company hired Morgan Stanley to explore possible mergers, joint ventures and a sale or swap of its fiber-optic cable network.

Trimeris (TRMS)
trms
shares shot up 4 3/16 to 25 3/16 after the FDA gave the biotech firm "fast track" status for its fusion inhibitor drug HIV T-20. Trimeris also announced a fourth-quarter loss of 56 cents a share, a penny short of the consensus estimate.

U.S. decliners

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
AMD, -0.35%
lost 2 to 18 15/16 after it said it expects an operating loss in the fiscal first quarter. Merrill Lynch cut its rating for shares of the the technology company to "near-term neutral" from "near-term accumulate." On Wednesday, AMD shares sank over 10 percent after it confirmed that it cancelled appearances at two tech conferences. See full story.

Boron LePore & Associates (BLPG)
BLPG, -13.04%
shares sank 12 5/8 to 16 1/8 after the company reported a fourth-quarter profit of24 cents a share, 1 cent short of the First Call consensus estimate. However, shares fell on news management has taken a cautious view towards 1999 results, according to Bear Stearns & Co.

Cerner (CERN)
CERN, -1.42%
shares dropped 7 1/16 to 16 15/16 after five brokerages cut the company's stock. Preferred Capital Markets equity analyst Kate Sharadin said some people see acquisitions in the healthcare IT sector driving stocks down and said the next couple of quarters are in question for the whole sector. The company earned 10 to 12 cents a share in the fourth quarter, excluding "so-called" revenue. Including the revenue from its stake in a start-up healthcare Internet company, profits came in line with estimates at 24 cents a share.

Orbital Sciences (ORB)
ORB, +9.85%
shares eased 4 1/4 to 34 1/2 after the company warned that fourth-quarter earnings are expected to be below estimates due to accounting charges. Wall Street estimates expect the space technology and satellite-services company to earn 23 cents a share.

Stocks to watch

CDnow (CDNW)
cdnw
shares added 1 to 22 after the company posted a fourth-quarter loss of 73 cents a share. The consensus estimate compiled by a First Call survey called for aloss of 76 cents a share. The online music retailer saw revenue grow 51 percent sequentially and 164 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL)
CL, +0.63%
shares rose 2 1/4 to 84 11/16 after the company posted fourth-quarter income of 73 cents per share, ahead of the 72-cent estimate in a First Call survey. The company's fourth-quarter income was $234.2million vs. $206.4 million in the year-ago period.

Infinity Broadcasting (INF)
INF, -1.76%
shares fell 9/16 to 27 7/16 after the company posted fourth-quarter profit of 9 cents per share, in line with Wall Street's consensus estimate in a First Call survey. Net revenue for the CBS (CBS)
CBS, -0.27%
unit was $573 million vs. $412 million in the year-ago period. CBS shares eased 13/16 to 35 13/16. CBS is a major shareholder in MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this site. See full story.

Jefferson-Pilot (JP)
JP, -0.55%
shares added 1/2 to 69 3/4 after the company earned 89 cents a share in the fourth quarter, excluding gains from the sale of investments. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research had projected earnings of 87 cents a share. Life insurance revenue rose 26 percent from a year earlier.

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